(EXOt)ox(ic)

Chapter 6: Temple Run part 2

"It says, one who calls others a fool is the biggest fool", Xiumin said as he smirked at Harui, who then tried to deliver a fairly strong punch to his gut. Grateful to his reflexes, Xiumin was able to stop her fist and pull her close to him. Harui collided with Xiumin like a clumsy truck. When Harui looked up, Xiumin's face was just an inch away from hers and this made the blood rush to her face. If not for the shadow of the canopy that cast upon both of them, she would've been called out for looking like a cherry about to explode. His usually calm eyes had a sudden glint of mischief and thrill in them and the shadow made his facial features look more sculpted. A small smirk tugged at one side of his moist lips and Harui's heart almost leapt out of her chest as Xiumin moved his face closer to hers...

"It also says that Minmin doesn't know how to read this... dystopian language", he whispered in Harui's left ear, which turned a peculiar shade of pink due to the proximity. Before Harui could push him away, Xiumin held her wrist and lead her into the shrine. "Let's see what's in here..."

By the time Harui had recovered, they had reached the inner part of the shrine which was located underground. It was, indeed, filled with several secret chambers, though it looked small outside. Inside one of the passages, there was even a small stream of water, which ended in a shallow, tiny pond of crystal clear water. They each took a sip of the sweet water to quench their thirst. Soon, they had reached the end of the main passage, where the walls were painted with vibrant colours in the form of different symbols and images. As Harui's hand brushed against the designs, she seemed to have moved a secret door (which looked like it was part of the wall). Intrigued, Harui and Xiumin went inside after exchanging a slight nod and a smile. They seemed to love getting into trouble together somehow...

A small, yet majestic limestone idol stood at the centre of the dimly lit room, consisting of a single torch of fire that perfectly illuminated the statue. The awestruck duo slowly crept around the idol to get a better view of it from different encircling angles. It was a mould of two halves of different idols - the front part was female and the rear part was the frontier of a male- indicating two different halves constituting a perfect whole.
"The prince and his lover...", whispered Xiumin. Harui slowly nodded in response to his feeble whisper of a comment, still entranced by the beauty of the idol. Perhaps they had trespassed into the forbidden part of the shrine or perhaps the undiscovered part of it, as there weren't any details about secret doorways that lead to a chamber containing a small statue in the brochures or in the articles posted online. The tales of the prince were intricately engraved on the walls of the secret chamber, which would serve to be any historian's delight. The two satisfied cookies then found their way out, feeling extremely content after a good time of discoveries solemnly sworn to secrecy- unless it had already been discovered by some others - for they found it amusing to label it as their new secret.

A little while later...
"Uhhhh you really into men carrying you about huh, Ally?", asked Baekhyun in a half-interrogative, half-teasing tone.
Xiumin, who initially looked too tired to care, suddenly stiffened and stared uncomfortably at Baekhyun carrying Ally on his back like an infant.
"I'm honestly beginning to think the same thing", chuckled Xiumin with 'worn out' written all over the poor man's face.
Ally rolled her eyes at both of them, while Baekhyun explained the situation to them.
"Maybe she's cursed to spend her vacation this year at the infirmary", Harui commented as a joke.

Lunch was served at a temple-style restaurant just two miles away from the temple. The group of friends had decided to opt for the buffet, for they were in dire need of heavy replenishment of exhausted energy, to continue their journey.
All the men in the travel group were gawking at the beautiful waitresses in traditional outfits that sat perfectly on their bodies and complemented their skin tone, not bothered by the glares from jealous wives/girlfriends. The massive dining hall was decorated with ancient paintings that depicted scenes from the ancient story of the prince and his lover. One particular portrait caught Harui's eye.
"Looks like Baekey and Ally were photographed earlier. It's strange how your clothes look different here though", remarked Xiumin, pointing at the portrait Harui was staring at. It depicted a scene in the legend, where the prince carries his injured lover. Xiumin commented that Ally was probably the princess reincarnated and searching for her reincarnated version of her soulmate, by injuring herself and ordering people around to carry her — a hilarious version of her own test to determine her soulmate.
Ally stomped her uninjured foot on Xiumin's left foot, while her sprained ankle which was bandaged and sprayed with pain relief spray seemed to emanate no pain as she briefly supported her weight on it.

After a hearty lunch, though nobody wanted to leave or stop munching on delicious delicacies served at the restaurant, they were taken to a few shops for souvenir shopping. The small stores were decorated with wooden dolls, small charms, fancy key chains, mini versions of paintings of the temples, miniature forms of sculptures and many other peculiar objects. Baekhyun bought a few pictures and fridge magnets, while Ally bought some aromatic oil in tiny bottles of distinct shapes.
"I think this'll look nice on you", Xiumin said to Harui as he held a chain with a beautiful pendant.
The silver pendant that dangled from the thin, yet strong chain, had peculiar designs on it.
"Don't worry, I'm getting one too so we can match", he said with another chain dangling from his other hand.
As Harui admired the eye-catching ornament , Xiumin hooked the other chain around her slender neck while he admired the person in front of him.

Late evening, back at the mansion

Xiumin slumped down on the floor, too exhausted to even find a couch or a comfortable chair to rest his aching back, no thanks to Harui and Ally for making him carry their baggage. Baekhyun was in much worse shape, for he had to carry Ally again after their souvenir shopping-spree. Ally frantically apologised to Baekhyun, who was having way too much fun making her feel guilty. Meanwhile, Harui rummaged through her red bag filled with everything that was unnecessary.
Later that night, when Suho arrived downstairs to clean up after dinner, Harui grabbed a small box she had taken from her bag earlier and sprinted upstairs in hopes of meeting Sunny.
"Here you go, cutie. You missed a hell lot of fun, ya know", Harui said to the little girl in front of her as she handed her the gift she had bought at the souvenir store. "There's two of it inside, so you can give the other to your brother".
Sunny struggled to open the box with her small, slender fingers while Harui silently chuckled to herself and then decided to give her a hand. The two shiny key-chains that dangled from Sunny' s tiny hand twinkled in the light, just like Sunny's eyes. A cute 'thank you' and a warm hug from the little munchkin brought about a wide grin on Harui's face

"Oh don't thank me kiddo, it's a small gift from me and Ally ;) She should've been the one to deliver it to you, but she's held up with work in the kitchen, now that we're all done with dinner. Hence, she asked me to play the role of a delivery executive here ".

Sunny giggled a little at how Harui spoke comically.

" 'Go give this to a cutie patootie that stays upstairs with the mean'- I mean 'Suho', yeah. 'You can easily spot her because she's the sweetest, most adorable little honey bun you'd've ever laid eyes on', she said to me. She didn't have any idea that we'd met already", chuckled Harui as she immitated Ally, not knowing that Suho was right there, near the stairs, evesdropping on their conversation.